1655 Comas Solà, provisional designation 1929 WG, is a rare-type asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 36 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 28 November 1929, by Spanish astronomer of Catalan origin, Josep Comas i Solà at the Fabra Observatory in Barcelona, Spain.[13] It was later named after the discoverer.[2]
Orbit and classification
It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.1–3.4 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,693 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] It was first observed as A901 VG at Heidelberg Observatory in 1901, extending the body's observation arc by 28 years prior to its official discovery observation at Barcelona.[13]
Physical characteristics
Comas Solà shows as rare XFU-type and B-type spectrum in the Tholen and SMASS classification scheme, respectively.[1]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Comas Solà measures between 30.57 and 40 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.04 and 0.073.[4][5][8][9] More recently published revised WISE/NEOWISE-data gave a refined diameter of 35.6 and 35.94 kilometers, respectively.[6][7] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with IRAS, and adopts an albedo of 0.0726 with a diameter of 30.57 kilometers and an absolute magnitude of 11.04.[3]
Naming
This minor planet was named in memory of its discoverer Josep Comas i Solà (1868–1937), first director of the discovering Fabra Observatory, Barcelona, capital of the Catalonia region in northeastern Spain. He was a prolific observer of minor planets and comets in the 1920s.[2]
It is one of the rare cases where a minor planet bears the name of its discoverer. Solà is also honored by the asteroid 1102 Pepita, named after his nickname, and by the 127-kilometer wide Martian crater Comas Sola.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 June 1980 (M.P.C. 5357).[2][14]